Freeway

Authorities have identified a 27-year-old man who was killed in a crash where the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway meets the San Diego (405) Freeway. Aaron Dobine of Laguna Niguel died at the intersection about 6:35 p.m. Monday after he lost control of the Harley-Davidson he was riding, according to the California Highway Patrol and Orange County coroner's office. As the motorcycle traveled at a high speed, it crashed into the concrete median wall and Dobine was thrown into an embankment, the CHP said.

The California Department of Transportation and the Orange County Transportation Authority will host the first of four public meetings Monday in Costa Mesa to discuss the possible widening of the San Diego (405) Freeway, a project that could stretch into the city limits. Monday's meeting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Orange Coast College Student Center, 2701 Fairview Road. The public will get a chance to learn about the proposed widening options and comment on the draft environmental impact report available online . To date, the most attractive option for OCTA officials appears to be the third choice, which would widen the 405 between the San Gabriel (605)

About 150 people crammed into the Victoria Room at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Center Monday night, ready to question a number of plans to ease congestion at the 55 Freeway’s end. Residents scrutinized the proposals for almost an hour during a question and answer session put forth by the Orange County Transportation Authority and LSA Associates, the firm contracted to develop them. While OCTA says 100,000 vehicles use Newport Boulevard every day, residents at the meeting cited Caltrans as saying 180,000 vehicles use the thoroughfare.

A Mission Viejo woman died after a solo-car crash on the 55 Freeway Saturday morning, according to the Orange County coroner's office. Rachel Branson, 22, was driving alone when she crashed on the 55 just south of Baker Street in Costa Mesa, according to coroner's records. She was pronounced dead at the scene 10:32 a.m. - Jeremiah Dobruck Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck

A man trying to cross the southbound 405 Freeway in Irvine was hit by a car and killed Monday night. Gabino Sanchez, 52, of Lake Forest was pronounced dead by paramedics who responded to the incident Monday night, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. The incident south of Irvine Center Drive was reported shortly after 9 p.m., authorities said. A spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol said it was not immediately known why Sanchez was trying to cross the freeway.

It happened in Los Angeles - twice - and now Orange County can brace for its own “ Carmageddon “: The 405 Freeway will be closed in both directions for 20 hours. The closure is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Aug. 17, and last through 5 p.m. Aug. 18. The freeway will be shut down between the 605 Freeway and Valley View Street in Westminster, according to a news release from the Orange County Transportation Authority. “We know this 'Bridge Bash' has the potential to disrupt traffic for the hundreds of thousands of people who use the I-405 on a typical summer weekend and we are encouraging drivers to avoid the freeway in this area,” Greg Winterbottom, OCTA chairman, said in the release.

An SUV was on its roof after a multiple-vehicle crash on the San Diego (405) Freeway on Monday, officials said. The crash was reported about 8:29 a.m. just south of the Euclid Street exit on the northbound side of the freeway, said California Highway Patrol Officer Denise Quesada. CHP issued a SigAlert for the carpool lane and the second lanes closest to it. Initial unverified reports said three people were taken to a local hospital, Quesada said. Three vehicles were towed from the scene, and the lanes were reopened at 9:47 a.m., Quesada said.

The city of Costa Mesa announced Monday that portions of the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway will be closed later this month. On Oct. 20 and 21, parts of the freeway in both directions will be closed intermittently, according to a California Department of Transportation announcement. Between 5 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. both days, southbound lanes between the San Diego (405) and Costa Mesa (55) freeways are expected to be closed, the agency announced on its website. Southbound lanes between the 55 and Jamboree Road are also expected to close both days between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. Northbound lanes from Jamboree Road to Campus Drive will be closed between noon and 7 p.m. Oct. 20, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 21. Caltrans lists several detours on its website . Drivers can also find a link to suggested routes around the closures on the city of Costa Mesa website at costamesaca.gov . - Lauren Williams Twitter: @lawilliams30

Editor's note: The error to which the mayor refers was caused by an editing mistake, which misstated Costa Mesa's position on the proposed San Diego (405) Freeway widening. Re. "OCTA: Focus group favors widening 405," July 28: While I appreciate the Daily Pilot's efforts to bring the 405 issue to light, the newspaper made some very egregious errors regarding my position and that of the Costa Mesa City Council. It is true that we are resolute and unanimous in our position regarding 405 alternatives, and if the Pilot staff had read our resolution, it would have known that the council opposes the Alternative 3 toll lanes and supports Alternative 2, which simply adds two free, general-purpose lanes going both north and south.

In his letter published Aug. 28 ("Commentary: Stop the 'south county Lexus' lanes,"), Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever chose to present a distorted indictment of the plans to improve the San Diego (405) Freeway between Costa Mesa and the border with Los Angeles County. My experience has taught me to look past political spin and bluster. However, in this case, Bever goes beyond those antics and advances misinformation and factually incorrect claims. With that in mind, let's set the record clear.

All lanes of the northbound I-5 Freeway in Orange County were reopened late Thursday morning, hours after a multicar chain-reaction crash that left two people dead and four injured That collision in the northbound lanes in Irvine was so violent that debris was scattered over a quarter of a mile and took hours to clear, authorities said. The driver and passenger in a Toyota Camry were both pronounced dead at the scene of the 4:41 a.m. five-car accident. The Orange County Coroner's office later identified the driver as Sherry Butler, 46, and her passenger as Andrew Hays, 52. Both were from Rancho Santa Margarita.

A man trying to cross the southbound 405 Freeway in Irvine was hit by a car and killed Monday night. Gabino Sanchez, 52, of Lake Forest was pronounced dead by paramedics who responded to the incident Monday night, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. The incident south of Irvine Center Drive was reported shortly after 9 p.m., authorities said. A spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol said it was not immediately known why Sanchez was trying to cross the freeway.

Can people see Metro Pointe from the 405 Freeway? Perhaps not well enough, according to the shopping center's developers, who won approval from the Costa Mesa Planning Commission on Monday night to install a 9-by-18-foot electronic sign near Bear Street and South Coast Drive. The move required making an exception to the city's LED ban, which was enacted in the wake of recent debates over whether the revamped Triangle center along Harbor Boulevard or the South Coast Collection, which also abuts the 405, should have been allowed to have electronic signage.

ORANGE — The Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday approved new lanes for a portion of the 405 Freeway, a decision that scrapped a hotly contested toll road option that area cities have fought for months. The estimated $1.25-billion project, known as Alternative 1, was one of three proposals to widen a nearly 12-mile stretch of the 405 between the 605 Freeway interchange in Seal Beach and Euclid Street in Fountain Valley. It calls for adding one general-purpose lane in each direction in an attempt to alleviate congestion.

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors will be voting next week on a plan that, if adopted, will misuse billions of tax dollars designated for traffic congestion relief to build toll roads on the 405 Freeway. But that's not all of the misappropriation that is planned. The real plan, as suggested in the July/August 2012 issue of the Auto Club of Southern California's Westways magazine, is to eventually have these toll lanes running throughout the Southland.

WESTMINSTER - They came en masse under the mantra of keeping the freeways free. More than 150 people crowded Westminster's Civic Center on Tuesday night to formally voice their opposition to any toll roads within a 14-mile portion of the 405 Freeway, from the 73 Freeway in Costa Mesa to the 605 Freeway outside Rossmoor. Representatives from communities nearby and along the busy thoroughfare - Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Westminster, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor and Fountain Valley - were in universal opposition to the toll option, officially called Alternative 3 by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA)

Police arrested a woman Sunday night who eyewitnesses say might have been trying to jump onto the 55 Freeway. Costa Mesa police responded to the Fairview Road overpass about 7:15 p.m., said Lt. Bryan Glass. The northbound route over the freeway is a single lane that branches from Newport Boulevard near Virginia Place. Glass described the woman as "somewhat bothered" and said she was taken into custody and placed on a mental health hold. He declined to give her name, age or city of residence.

It happened in Los Angeles - twice - and now Orange County can brace for its own “ Carmageddon “: The 405 Freeway will be closed in both directions for 20 hours. The closure is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Aug. 17, and last through 5 p.m. Aug. 18. The freeway will be shut down between the 605 Freeway and Valley View Street in Westminster, according to a news release from the Orange County Transportation Authority. “We know this 'Bridge Bash' has the potential to disrupt traffic for the hundreds of thousands of people who use the I-405 on a typical summer weekend and we are encouraging drivers to avoid the freeway in this area,” Greg Winterbottom, OCTA chairman, said in the release.

Three drivers escaped uninjured Tuesday after two cars caught fire in separate incidents and third was involved in a collision, according to authorities. Costa Mesa firefighters responded to a call that a silver Ford Focus was on fire at 12:35 p.m. at Fairview Road and Mustang Way in front of Costa Mesa High School. Capt. Brent Turner said the driver, Maria Najera, of Costa Mesa, had just been at her mechanic's shop before the engine caught fire. She said her vehicle was feeling a little sluggish and her mechanic told her to use higher-octane fuel.

A Mission Viejo woman died after a solo-car crash on the 55 Freeway Saturday morning, according to the Orange County coroner's office. Rachel Branson, 22, was driving alone when she crashed on the 55 just south of Baker Street in Costa Mesa, according to coroner's records. She was pronounced dead at the scene 10:32 a.m. - Jeremiah Dobruck Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck